UCLA outlasts Oregon State 25-22 Forces Rematch

Without a doubt the wildest baseball game I have ever seen and it was extremely frustrating for Beaver fans. The only thing hotter than the Arizona sun were the hitters in Scottsdale on Saturday afternoon/evening. Oregon State racked up 28 hits, 22 runs, 11 extra-base hits, 55 at-bats and the Beavers still stranded 14 baserunners. UCLA was just a bit more potent offensively though with 25 hits and 25 runs. As you can imagine it was not a speedy baseball game. Oregon State used nine pitchers and threw 270 pitches during the 6+ hour ballgame.

Garret Forrester got the hitting party started with a two-run homer in the first inning. Jake Pfennings got the start on the mound for the Beavs and struggled with his command walking three and getting pulled after facing eight batters and allowing three runs in the bottom of the first. Oregon State looked like they might be in trouble finding themselves down 7-2 headed to the third inning.

Oregon State’s offense put up a ton of runs in every inning from there on out (except for a scoreless 7th). Things went bonkers in the bottom of the 9th inning though. The Beavers flirted with the 10-run rule, but couldn’t get over the hump finding themselves up by nine runs a couple of times. With a nine run lead headed into the bottom of the 9th inning, UCLA tied it up. The 9th run was a bang-bang play at the plate where Gavin Logan (who had 5 hits & 5 RBI) was injured and forced to leave the game. Ryan Brown managed to get the last couple of outs to send it into extra innings, but a questionable balk call scored another UCLA run and Tommy Beres hit the game-winning three run homer.

Many questions remain... Do the Beavers pitch Jacob Kmatz in the 2nd game? How decimated is their pitching staff/bullpen? How will the team respond to such a frustrating loss? And lastly is Gavin Logan okay? Injuries and fatigue are starting to take their toll with the most important postseason baseball looming next weekend. Stay tuned for the rematch on the Pac-12 network if you can handle it!